Better Dig Two
by WeirdyMcWeirderton
Summary: The trials begin to take their toll on Sam and he can't hide it from his brother anymore. Dean does everything in his power to save his brother, but he begins to wonder if it's enough. SPOILERS for Season 8; slightly AU as it takes place after the second trial.
1. It's Nothing

Here's a new story for ya'll. Don't worry, I'm still writing my Gracilynn fic. I had this dream and needed to write it down so sat down for an hour and banged this this out on my computer. Hope ya'll like it.

It's kind of AU because it takes place further in Season 8 than we've seen. I took a spoiler that Jared gave us in an interview so you've been forewarned. There are SPOILERS for Season 8 and in the future.

Enjoy!

"Okay, so all of the victims have one thing in common," Dean says, looking at the computer in front of him.

"I'll bit, what is it?" Sam says, grimacing and rubbing at his chest, a pain beginning to form.

"They've all been to the same group gathering," Dean says looking up from the computer. Sam quickly changes his rub to a scratch. Dean catches it though and narrows his eyes.

"What's that?" Sam asks, dropping his hand even though the pain's still there, but feeling Dean's studying gaze on him.

"Some lecture thing where a…Mark Garinton talks about the dangers of guns," Dean says, still keeping an eye on his brother.

"Okay…" Sam begins, stopping as a particular sharp pain hits him in his chest, "Then we should…go talk to this guy…right?"

Dean's eyes narrow further, hearing the pain lacing his brothers' words and his features. He doesn't miss how his brother grabs his chest.

"Sammy?"

"It's fine, Dean. It's…ah!" Sam begins but is cut off by another sharp pain hitting him. He drops to his knees on the floor. Dean lunges off his chair and grabs his brother right before his head slams into the floor.

"Sammy?!" Dean asks, fear hitting him full force. He hears his brother begin to cough violently, his whole body shaking.

"It's…it's okay. It's nothing…It's…" Sam says, groaning at the end, resting his head on his brothers' shoulder, his hands gripping his brothers' shirt. He can feel the blood trickle out his mouth. Dean was going to be so pissed when he found out he'd been hiding the coughing up blood since way before he finished the second trial. There was only one more to go, he had to finish it.

"This doesn't look like nothing Sammy," Dean says, his blatant fear starting to turn to anger. He pushes his brother back, needing to see his face. What meets him is the last thing he expected. His eyes widen at the sight of the blood coming out of his brother's mouth. Sam wipes it away, already knowing the damage was done; his brother already saw it. "Jesus Sammy."

Dean tilts Sam's head back a little trying to get a better look at him. Sam weakly pushes his hand away, his other hand still gripping his brothers' shirt. He grimaces as another pain shoots through his chest. Sam coughs again, more blood appearing sending another wave of fear through Dean.

"Sammy?" He's greeted with silence. "Sammy? Come on dude, you're scaring me here."

"It only happens when I cough," Sam says, hearing the unveiled fear emanating from his brothers' voice.

"What?" Dean asks, the words registering in his head. "How long has this been going on?"

"Since before the second trial. Shortly after I finished the first one," Sam explains, shutting his eyes to the pain. Dean shakes his head in anger. He stands up, yanking himself away from Sam's grasp. Sam stutters in his movement a bit, not expecting the sudden movement from his brother.

"You said you'd tell me if something went wrong," Dean accuses, running a hand through his hair. "You were supposed to tell me so something like this _didn't_ happen."

"I didn't want you to think I couldn't do this," Sam explains lamely. He struggles to stand up but finally gets there, with help from the bed next to him. He lets go of the bed and takes a step towards his brother only to stumble and fall forward. He feels strong hands grab him and lead him back towards the bed. Dean helps him lay down in the bed, trying to control his overwhelming fear of everything that has happened. Sam closes his eyes, trying to control the pain. Dean panic a little seeing Sam's eyes closed.

"Open your eyes, Sammy. Sammy, I need you to open your eyes," Dean says, cursing the fear in his voice. It must've done the trick though because Sam instantly opens his eyes.

"I'm not dead Dean," Sam says.

"Not yet," Dean says angrily. "Just…just lay hear for a minute."

Sam nods his head and closes his eyes. Dean grabs his phone and walks out the door, standing near the window where he can see his brother at all times. He dials a number and waits for someone to answer.

"Hello?"

"Kevin? I need you to tell me exactly what you know about these damn trials," Dean demands.

"Dean? I already told you everything I've found out," Kevin says, surprised by the intensity in Dean's voice.

"What about the person who's performing them?" Dean asks, looking through the window to see his brother sleeping on the bed.

"What do you mean?" Kevin asks, confused.

"I mean does anything happen to them while their carrying out these shit-ass trials?" Dean asks angrily. "Like do they end up coughing _blood_ or have sharp pain in their _chest_?"

"Sam? Is that what's happening to Sam?" Kevin asks, putting two and two together.

"Yes, dammit!" Dean yells.

"I…I don't know. I'll look though," Kevin says quickly trying to calm Dean down. Dean hears a voice in the background and a shuffle before Garth's voice comes on the phone.

"Dean? Kevin told me what's going on," Garth says.

"Yeah, 'cause telling everyone is going to do something about it," Dean snaps.

"Dean, Kevin's going to look to see if he can find something," Garth says. "He's gonna pull through this Dean."

"Really?" Dean asks sarcastically, "And you know this how? You hiding a crystal ball or something?"

"No Dean," Garth says, keeping his calm expertly. "Because he was practically raised by the best hunter around."

"Who? Dad?" Dean asks angrily. "I don't…"

"I was talking about _you_ Dean," Garth says, shutting Dean up. "As soon as Kevin finds something out, we'll give you a call. In the meantime, try not to do anything stupid."

Dean scowls but is cut off from saying anything in return by the click of the phone. Dean closes his eyes, taking a deep breath, running a hand through his hair and down his face. He turns around and looks in the window at his brother sleeping anything but peacefully.

"No offense Garth," Dean says, "But I ain't taking a chance on Sammy's life."

These chapter will be kind of short. I could've made it a one-shot but the story has three distinct scenes and I wanted to make each their own chapter. Having said that, because the chapters are short, I will be updating every day with it. Please review and let me know what ya'll think!


	2. What the Hell Were You Thinking?

Here's the next chapter! Hope ya'll like it!

Dean guns the engine of the Impala. He went back inside to do some research and leave a hasty note telling his brother he was fine and he'd be back. He found someone he thought had probably made a deal and it was coming due. No way was he losing Sammy again. He was going to do this his way now.

Sam wakes up and sees the hotel room completely empty; as in, his brother was nowhere to be found. He sees a note on the table by the bed and picks it up, noticing Dean's hasty scrawl saying he was okay and that he'd be back later. Sam narrows his eyes, knowing something was up. He sets the paper down and looks around the room, trying to find any clues that could tell him where his brother went. He notices his laptop isn't where he'd last seen it and he sits at the table pulling it over to him. He clicks on the browser and opens up its' history.

"Son of a Bitch," Sam curses, seeing the research Dean had done before he left. Sam grabs his coat and key and leaves the hotel room, intent on finding a car and heading to the town he _knew_ Dean was.

Dean enters the house on edge. He had arrived but it didn't look like anyone had lived here in a few years. He looks throughout the house, but only accomplishes proving his suspicions correct. He huffs, angry that he wasted time on this lead. He hears a car outside and instantly goes into high alert. He flattens himself against the wall and waits as he hears footsteps approaching the door. The door opens and closes and the footsteps warily walk through the house. When Dean's sure the intruder is right next to him he launches himself off the wall and slams the guy into the wall.

"Sammy?" Dean asks, surprised at seeing his brother in front of him.

"Dean," Sam says. Dean abruptly backs off. "What the hell are you thinking?"

"I was thinking you were an intruder," Dean says, knowing this isn't what Sam is talking about. He walks away from his brother a few steps.

"That wasn't what I was talking about and you know it," Sam accuses.

"I was thinking my brother was dying and I wasn't gonna just stand by and watch it happen. Again," Dean says angrily, whipping around to face Sam. They hear a noise and they turn towards it. Before they can register what it is, Dean goes flying into the far wall.

"Dean!" Sam says making a run for him but finds he can't. He realizes his feet are frozen in place. Sam looks to his right and sees Crowley standing before them with a smug look on his face.

"Now this is a surprise," Crowley says. "I knew I'd get Rocky but Bullwinkle too?"

Dean struggles against the invisible force holding him against the wall.

"In fact, it works out better you're here Sam," Crowley says, approaching him with a leer. He hears a noise and he looks over at Dean. "Don't worry Dean. I won't hurt baby brother too much."

Suddenly, there is a sharp pain in Sam's chest and he lets out a yell, not being able to stifle it from the sudden onslaught. Sam crumbles to his knees, holding his chest. He begins coughing and more blood escapes his mouth.

"You see boys, it might be hard to believe, but I don't want you to close the Gates of Hell. Now, I've underestimated you two knuckleheads in the past only to watch you two find some way to still save the world. Well, I'm not going to make that mistake again. This time I'm going to take precautions," Crowley says. Sam let's out another yell as another wave of pain hits him in the chest.

"I swear Crowley…" Dean threatens.

"You're in no position to be making threats Dean," Crowley says coldly, looking over at Dean. Crowley squeezes his hand and Sam lets out a loud yell, louder than the previous ones, and Dean flinches.

"Please," Dean says, watching his brother trying and failing to control the pain. Crowley answers it with an evil smirk. He turns his attention back to Sam. He forces him to stand upright before Sam flings back into the wall behind him with a crash. Sam groans in pain. "Sammy!"

"You know. I was thinking about just helping your little sickness along Sam but hey, why not kill you like you killed all the women in your life," Crowley says. Dean's eyes grow wide. Crowley begins using his powers to choke Sam while raising him up the wall.

"Crowley!" Dean says, all but pleading, his gaze shifting from his brother to Crowley and back again. "Please!"

Crowley smiles, letting out a slight chuckle before letting go and watching Sam fall to the floor, just barely able to catch himself. Sam falls to his knees and bends over, resting his forehead on the floor before him. He takes deep breathes, trying to simultaneously get air back into his lungs and control the pain. Crowley turns to Dean.

"I suggest you don't let your brother finish the trials Dean. Or next time, I won't be so nice. _You'll_ be begging me to kill him quickly," Crowley says coldly right before he disappears.

Dean falls to the floor but springs to his feet and arrives at his brothers' side in a few bounds. He falls to his knees and grabs ahold of his brother, pushing him back and checking him over, making sure he's okay.

"Sammy? Sammy, talk to me man," Dean says.

"I'm okay," Sam says breathlessly. "I'm…oh God."

Dean feels the hard grip on his jacket before Sam pulls him closer, resting his forehead on his chest with a groan. Before he thinks about it, Dean wraps an arm around him.

"That's it, I'm taking you to a hospital," Dean says.

Please review! I love to hear what you guys think!


	3. Ever

Here's the last chapter! Hope ya'll enjoy it!

"Family of Sam Turner?" a doctor in a white lab coat says. Dean jumps up from his chair and hastily walks over to the doctor.

"Is my brother okay?" Dean asks, not waiting for the doctor to start.

"I think you should come with me," the doctor says. Dean follows the doctor through the door down the hall.

"Doctor?" Dean asks.

"First of all, I'm Doctor Henley," the doctor says.

"Dean," Dean says, annoyed at not being told anything about his brother yet. Doctor Henley nods his head.

"You're brother has Tuberculosis," Henley says.

"Wh…What?" Dean stutters out.

"We caught it just in time. Any later and the possibility of him surviving would have diminished greatly. We've put him on medication and hopefully it will help him," the doctor says. Dean stops in his tracks.

"Hopefully?" he asks, "I thought you said we caught it in time?"

"We did, but it was close. He needs to be monitored closely," Doctor Henley says.

"So, he needs to stay in the hospital?" Dean asks.

"Not necessarily. If he's doing well, he can go home. But we will give you a list of symptoms to look out for and you need to keep a close eye on him. If anything changes, and I mean _anything_, you need to bring him back here immediately," the doctor says. Dean nods his head.

"Can…Can I see him now?" he asks. Henley nods his head.

"Of course," he says, leading him to a door. "I'll leave you two alone."

Dean looks in the room and sees Sam lying in the bed, looking pale and truthfully, like complete crap. Dean takes a deep breath and runs a hand through his hair again. He walks into the room, shutting the door behind him. He walks over to the bed and takes a seat.

"Hey," Dean says.

"Hey," Sam croaks out.

"How you feeling?" Dean asks, knowing it's a stupid question but having nothing else to say.

"How do I look?" Sam asks.

"Like crap," Dean answers.

"Well, I feel about ten times worse," Sam says truthfully. Dean nods his head. He looks back over at his brother and sees his eyes begin to droop.

"You should get some sleep," Dean says. Sam's eyes fling open and he shakes his head. "I'll be right here. I'm not going anywhere."

Sam mumbles something but the only word he can make out is 'stupid'. Dean sighs, knowing exactly what he said. The same thing Garth told him earlier. The same thing Bobby would always tell him.

"I won't do anything stupid. I won't leave. I promise little brother," Dean says, determined to get Sam to believe him. Sam holds his gaze for a moment before nodding his head and closing his eyes, falling asleep almost instantly. Dean gets up from his chair and walks over to the window, pulling out his phone and dialing a number.

"Hey, Garth," Dean says. "Kevin find anything yet?"

"Hold on Dean. I'm going to put you on speaker," Garth replies.

"Dean," Kevin's voice comes on over the phone.

"You find anything?" Dean says, glancing back at his sleeping brother.

"Yeah, actually I did," Kevin says, "You're not going to like it though."

"Awesome," Dean says, sighing, "All right, give it to me."

"Basically, whoever does the trials does get sick. The only way to heal them is for them to finish them."

"What if I do the trials instead?" Dean asks.

"It won't do anything," Kevin replies, "Sam's already said the spell. The only way to save your brother is by letting him finish the trials."

"Well, this blows," Dean says angrily.

"Yeah, I know," Kevin says empathically.

"No, you don't know. We ran into Crowley. The asshat said that if I let Sammy finish the trials he was going to kill him," Dean says. "So, basically, if I let Sammy finish the trials, the Son of a Bitch kills him. And if I don't let him finish the trials, this Bitch of an illness kills him. Either way my brother _dies_!"

"We'll see if we can find something Dean," Garth assures.

"Yeah," Dean says, not believing they will. Dean hangs up his phone and puts it back in his pocket. He turns around and looks at his brother who's still sleeping. Dean leans up against the wall and slides down to a sitting position, his knees up by his chest. Dean feels his eyes begin to prickle, feeling the helplessness he's only felt a few times before, all dealing with his brother; the last time being when Sam was in the coma a few years ago. Dean's eyes never leave his brothers' still form.

"I don't think I can go through this again Sammy," Dean admits softly, feeling a single tear fall down his cheek. Dean closes his eyes, trying not to lose control of his emotions completely.

Sam opens his eyes, not feeling his brothers' eyes on him anymore. He sees his brother sitting up against the wall with his eyes closed. Sam knows his not sleeping, just as he knows the wet stain on his cheek is from a tear he wasn't able to hold back. _I don't think I can go through this again Sammy_. Sam bites his cheek, his brothers' words replaying in his head over and over again. He knows exactly what his brother is talking about. It has nothing to do with saving the world and everything to do with losing his brother. He was going to make sure he made it out of this alive; because if Sam had anything to say about it, he wasn't going to let Dean go through that again. Ever.

Please review and let me know what ya'll thought of the chapter and story!


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